


We're Okay

by Captain_Toad



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Nebula & Tony Stark Friendship, Nebula (Marvel) - Freeform, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), SPOILERS!!!, SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!, Spoilers, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony adopts Nebula, and i cannot stress this enough, and to quote thanos, but reality can be whatever i want it to be, endgame fix it!!, i'm fixing endgame because, nebula gets the ending she fucking deserves, reality is often disappointing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-02-29 06:22:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Toad/pseuds/Captain_Toad
Summary: fixing endgame one step at a time!!





	1. "Hey Pep."

“And I…

am…

Iron Man.”

Blinding, burning pain ripped through his right arm and torso. Colours danced in front of his eyes.

And then they won. Thanos’s army slowly disintegrated, then Thanos himself did as well.

Dazed, he stumbled forward to collapse against a piece of rubble, fighting to stay conscious.

“Mr. Stark?”

A familiar voice cut through the pain.

“Mr. Stark, it’s okay, we won… we won, Mr. Stark! Please, I…”

“Calm down, kid. Give him some space.”

Tony blinked gratefully at Rhodey. Peter, bless the boy, was not helping by gripping his shoulders in distress. A warm, gentle hand brushed his cheek. He leaned into the caress slightly and looked up to see the love of his life. Her kind eyes and beautiful, sad smile strengthened his resolve to live. And so his heart continued to beat valiantly.

For Pepper.

For Morgan.

For Peter.

For Rhodey.

“He has a chance.”

A different voice interrupted. A Wakandan girl… Shuri, was her name? Was scanning him with a piece of technology. Her determined eyes flashed towards Doctor Strange.

“We must get him to Wakanda. Now.” She commanded.

Strange nodded, quickly forming a portal to the Wakandan medical ward while his cloak, with a rustle, flew off his shoulders and gently wrapped itself around Tony, lifting him off the ground.

“Stark? I’m going to need you to stay awake for a bit longer,” Shuri’s voice came again, leading the cloak through the portal. “Can you do that?”

His throat was hoarse and he couldn’t find the strength in him to respond, so he only obeyed the girl’s orders. Every time his eyes felt heavy as bricks, he forced them to stay open. He had to.

The next few minutes were a blur, Tony only focusing on keeping his eyes open, until…

“Stark? We’ve got you. You can take a rest now.”

Tony wasted no time blacking out.

 

It took 2 hours until he was stable enough to perform surgery. It was another 3 hours to amputate his arm, and another 2 hours until he was stable enough to be left alone.

Pepper was with him the whole time.

Peter tried, but Aunt May finally found him and they went home together. They had 5 years of hugs to catch up on.

Morgan, bless the little girl, fell asleep in the chair beside her mom.

Pepper stayed awake.

Tony was unconscious for 4 and a half days.

Pepper stayed awake.

 

His eyes cracked open, and the buttery light of noon blinded him momentarily. He winced, but blinked until he could see.

What he saw was Pepper’s weary, sleep deprived face, hair tousled and bags under her eyes. His heart softened. Tony didn’t know how long he was out, but from the looks of it, Pepper hadn’t left his side once.

“Hey, Pep.”

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and all her tiredness melted away, and immense weight lifting off her shoulders. Her face seemed to glow as tears began to prick the edges of her eyes.

“Tony.”

It was one word, barely a whisper, but it held all the relief and love and hope and everything in between that she was feeling at the moment.

And they were okay.


	2. "You really thought I was dead?!"

Loki stumbled onto the battlefield, wiping his brow of sweat. 5 years it had taken him to get his lousy ship to earth from the other side of the galaxy where he had hidden from Thanos. The stupid ship had to stop for power every couple of days, and its engines didn't go all that fast. He knew he had to get to earth as fast as possible, especially when half the ship station started to disappear. But finally he was here, and it looked like had had missed quite a bit. 

Thanos's entire army raged in front of him, and for a moment, it looked like the Avengers were losing. But then portals started opening, ugh, Strange's portals to be precise, and hundreds of heroes began to arrive. The Vanished ones, he presumed. Loki took that as his cue to join the battle. Steve's battle cry rang out and the two armies collided. This was war.

Loki sliced and stabbed his way through the enemy wave, relishing the thought of when Thanos's expression when he sees his face. Oh, he would be shocked. No more than Thor, though, his brain reminded him. Right, Thor. He needed to get to Thor. It wasn't very hard to find him. Ahead of him was the figure of the God of Thunder, lighting striking in all directions, each enemy immediately being devastated if they got close.

Loki grimaced in thought. Thor was indeed powerful. The God of Mischief's arrival would be a distraction to him. Maybe he should wait until after the fight, at least if they won.

"Loki?!"

A flabbergasted voice cut through his thoughts. Loki sighed and turned to face one Tony Stark, his gaping expression covered by his helmet.

"Stark. So we meet again."

"What are you doing here?!"

Tony raised his hand threateningly, the blaster built into it glowing warningly.

"Now, Stark, I know we didn't meet on the best of terms--"

"No shit, you were trying to kill us last time!"

"--but I can assure you I'm on your side."

Tony scoffed.

"Yeah? Weren't you Thanos's little accomplice? You know, helped you attack New York and shit?"

"I was having some... issues back then," Loki rubbed the back of his neck with the sense to look slightly sheepish. "He told me he could give me everything that I wanted if I did as he asked."

"And? That's not a fucking excuse, reindeer games."

"He lied to me," Loki snapped bluntly. "And tortured me. Listen, I would be happy to let you interrogate me after all this is over, but we're a tad pressed for time, don't you think?"

Tony hesitated, considering his options. Trust the man who killed 80 people in two days and tried to take over the world?

Alright.

He nodded, and went back to fighting.

Loki let out a breath of relief, and turned to see Thor gaping at him, disbelief paralyzing him. The lighting in his eyes dimmed and he simply stood there, not even blinking as he took hits from the enemy. Loki huffed. So much for staying away from his brother.

He charged forward to rip the attackers off of his sibling, his dual swords slicing through their armour.

The shock died down, and Thor came back to his senses, blasting every enemy away from the two of them. Then he turned to face Loki.

And envelop him in a bone crushing hug, bombarding the man with a million questions.

"How are you here? How are you alive? How did you get here? How did you survive? Where did you come from? What happened? Where've you been for the last five years?"

Loki squirmed uncomfortably.

"If you stop breaking every bone in my body," His voice was muffled. "Then I might tell you."

Thor hesitantly released his brother, staring at him in awe.

"I can't believe you're alive."

Loki stopped. And stared. And despite the fact that they were literally in the middle of a war to save the universe, he burst out into laughter. Thor narrowed his eyes, rightfully angry and offended. Loki saw his expression and tried to calm himself down.

"Sorry, it's just," He chuckled, a wide grin on his face. "You really thought I was dead?!"

"I saw you--"

"You saw me die? What's this, the third time? Oh brother, you really never learn, do you?"

An anguished expression darkened Thor's face.

"It's been five years..." He murmured softly

"I would have gotten here faster if I wasn't stuck making my way across the galaxy in a lousy excuse for a ship. You really should have sent to get me."

"Loki-"

"Although, I suppose I can't really blame you. I was trying to lay low the whole time. I imagine Thanos wouldn't be too happy once he found out I was alive."

"Loki-"

"But even so, you didn't even bother looking for me! Five years I spent on and off that ship. I had to stop every few days for power. It was ridiculous. You should be glad I even got here at all!"

"LOKI!"

"What?!"

"I..."

Thor gazed at his little brother mournfully, searching for the right words to say.

"I missed you."

Loki's face softened, and his mouth twitched into what could be a smile.

"I missed you too."


	3. "I don't know any games."

It took a while to get the ship off the ground. Tony and Nebula worked for hours to get the engine working. They knew the ship wouldn't last too long, but it was better than sitting and waiting until they succumbed to death. 

Space was empty. And lonely. Nebula was hardly good company. Her expressions were cold and her words were curt. Her eyes were always alert and suspicious. Never in a mood for games or jokes.

And that's how they got to working in the engine room, completely silent if not for the gum and occasional splutter of the engine.

"So, Thanos."

Tony spoke up finally. He never liked silence. "You said you knew him?"

Nebula froze, her gaze darkening. Touchy subject, then.

"Thanos... was my father," She muttered, her voice carrying that same metallic clang as always.

"Not a very good one, by the looks of it?"

"No. He... He killed half my planet, then took me from everyone I knew. I was 5 at the time," Her hands shook and she clenched them tightly. "From then on he trained me, molded me into a weapon. Made me fight Gamora, the only person who was even close to being family. And every time I lost, he replaced a part of me with metal. There's hardly any of me left. I hate him. I despise him. I detest him. Even if we lost, I want to kill him in the most painful way possible, so as his life drains from his body, he feels helpless in the face of death."

Tony blinked, registering the information. From five years old, her childhood was taken away, ripped from her hands. It wasn't right. Some fondness swelled inside his chest, like that feeling when he found out Peter had lost both of his father figures. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"You had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, but I guess I feel responsible for you now," Tony gave her a half hearted smile. "We're probably going to die here, so we might as well be friends. Whatd'ya say we take a break and play a game?"

Nebula stiffened, trying not to let hope light up her eyes.

"A game?"

"You know, to have fun?"

"I don't--"

She hesitated.

"I don't know any games."

"I figured that. Come on, I'll teach you." He stood up and held out his hand. Nebula blinked away the tears that were starting to well up in her one organic eye. Never in her life had anyone wanted to play a game with her. Well, maybe when she was five. But she didn't really remember that. She couldn't remember what it was like to have a dad. But that hope and fondness that swirled in her head, emotions that very, very rarely were felt as she took his hand and stood up, it made her feel... happy.

Tony gazed at Nebula, and in that moment, she looked like a little girl. Just a young kid who'd never had a proper parent before. Her fingers were tentative, nervous. Her face lit up and the way she held herself was fragile, shy. She looked so young. And that's what she was. Not a ruthless, emotionless killing machine. She wasn't evil or villainous. She was just a girl who had her childhood taken away. And Tony knew that. And even if they only had a few weeks left until their oxygen ran out, he was going to give as much of her childhood back as he could. After all that she'd been through, that's what she deserved.


	4. "The power of the Gauntlet rests on new shoulders."

"Give me that."

A harsh, metallic voice came from behind Peter. Trembling, the wide-eyed teenager turned around to see a blue skinned woman with dark eyes.

"Um, I'm not s-supposed to-- but, oh hey I saw you a few minutes ago! On that planet while we were fighting Thanos!"

"Yes, although it was more than a few minutes for me."

"Uh, oh yeah, f-five years, right? Anyways, um... here I guess."

He handed the Gauntlet to the woman. She gave a quik, curt nod, and sped off.

 

"Father."

The word was oozing with contempt as Nebula stepped towards the Mad Titan. He turned to face her, a smile tugging at his lips as he laid eyes on the Gauntlet.

"Daughter. You've brought me the Gauntlet. Good work," His compliment was empty. Nebula no longer wished for his approval. His words meant nothing to her, unless they were screams of agony. "Give it here, and we can end this."

"On the contrary, _father_ ," Her words were a snarl as she donned the Gauntlet, the power already painting cracks in her metal arm. No matter, she could feel no pain. She lifted her chin in defiance, relishing the flash of fear that sparked in the tyrant's eyes.

"The power of the Gauntlet rests on new shoulders."

With the Space Stone, she lifted him off the ground, He struggled to move, but he couldn't.

"Anything I yearn for is within my grasp."

With the Time Stone, she froze his army. The heroes looked around in confusion, wondering why their opponents had simply stopped moving.

"Do you know what I yearn for, _dear Thanos?_ "

All eyes were on Nebula now, her voice reverberating across the battlefield. She looked into the Mad Titan's eyes, and they were afraid. He knew he had failed and he knew he was going to die. She leaned in close, her dark eyes gleaming madly. Her voice was a hiss as she uttered the last word Thanos would hear.

**"Revenge."**

She punched him square in his chest, and his screams rang out across the battlefield. His flesh burned and sizzled and tore and split. He was just aware enough to notice his army disappearing, and then the pain tripled. A long couple of minutes passed before the Titan was dead. His mangled body fell to the ground with a thump. Nebula looked down at him with satisfaction. She spat in his face before dropping the Gauntlet to the ground.


End file.
